With folded hands, a coach stood at Panvel railway station, pleading with a senior Travelling Ticket Examiner to allow two athletes to board their train. The moment, captured on video and later widely shared on social media, was not one of defiance but desperation — a quiet appeal from men who represent India on the athletics field, reduced to begging for a seat home.
What should have been a routine return journey after the Inter-University Games turned into a nearly six-hour ordeal for two of India’s leading pole vaulters, Dev Meena and Kuldeep Yadav. Railway officials objected to the athletes carrying their pole vault equipment, claiming it exceeded permitted dimensions. Despite having valid tickets, the duo was asked to deboard the train.
By the time the issue was “resolved”, the athletes had missed their scheduled train, paid fines and spent hours waiting on the platform — exhausted, anxious and uncertain about reaching their next destination on time.
The video of the coach pleading with folded hands quickly went viral, triggering widespread outrage and reopening uncomfortable questions about how India treats its athletes away from the spotlight.
A routine journey derailed
“We are at Panvel railway station in Maharashtra. The senior TTE saw our poles and decided we cannot travel on this train,” Dev Meena said in a video shared by NNIS Sports. “Our train has already left. We have been waiting here for 4–5 hours. If this can happen to senior athletes like us, I wonder what happens to juniors.”
For Meena, the issue went beyond a missed train. It highlighted the absence of any clear, athlete-friendly system for travelling with specialised sports equipment.
“I want Indian Railways to create some arrangement for athletes. Even if we have to pay extra, we are ready. One pole costs at least Rs 2 lakh. I can pay the charges, but every time, whether it’s a train or a flight, space becomes a problem,” he said.
Pole vault poles are long, fragile and expensive. Most are imported and customised to suit individual athletes. They cannot be folded, bent or replaced easily. For elite vaulters, travelling without their poles means missing competitions altogether.
After hours of arguments, explanations and repeated requests, Meena and Yadav were finally allowed to continue their journey — but only after paying a fine.
“We have paid the fine just to keep the pole inside. If any passenger raises a concern, people immediately jump on us,” Meena said.
Kuldeep Yadav spoke about the toll the delay took, especially with major competitions approaching.
“After 4–5 hours, we were told clearly that we wouldn’t be allowed to leave unless we paid the fine. We paid it so we could travel,” he said. “If this is how the country’s top pole vaulters are treated, how do we encourage juniors to take up this sport? The Asian Games are coming up, expectations are high, and we were stuck here for 6–7 hours.”
‘When medals come, everyone is proud’
As the video spread, anger simmered across India’s athletics community. Athletes, coaches and former medallists rallied behind Meena and Yadav, calling the incident symptomatic of a deeper problem.
Hurdler and five-time national medallist Ritesh Choudhary was among the most vocal. In a series of emotional statements, he spoke about what he described as the double standards Indian athletes face.
“When medals come, everyone says, ‘India has arrived’. Everyone puts up status messages, everyone is proud,” Choudhary said. “But today, when the same pole that brings those medals is being carried, suddenly it’s a problem.”
He pointed out that the pole neither disturbed passengers nor caused any inconvenience.
“It wasn’t making noise, it wasn’t touching anyone, it wasn’t creating trouble. Still people were shouting and complaining,” he said. “This pole is not just a stick. We respect it because we respect our sport.”
Choudhary accused railway officials of harassment and misuse of authority.
“What happened to Kuldeep and Dev is shameful. These are rising athletes, bringing medals for India. You say ‘they make us proud’, but where was that pride then?” he asked.
He also dismissed suggestions that the poles should have been sent via the parcel system.
“Everyone knows how unreliable that system is. These poles cost one or two lakh rupees. Will an athlete wait five days and compete without equipment?” he said.
Pointing to inconsistencies, Choudhary added, “People carry ten or twenty large sacks inside sleeper coaches every day and no one objects. But suddenly, there’s a problem with a pole.”
A wider, systemic problem
The Panvel incident is not an isolated case.
In December 2025, at least 18 young wrestlers from Odisha — boys and girls travelling to a national championship — were forced to sit near a train toilet for hours because only four of them had confirmed tickets. The rest travelled on the floor of a general coach in freezing conditions on their way to Uttar Pradesh.
That episode also triggered outrage, with former Olympians calling out the lack of planning and support for athletes.
Sports experts point out that Indian Railways has no dedicated quota or clear policy for athletes travelling with specialised equipment. Travel arrangements are often left to federations already stretched thin, and sometimes to athletes themselves.
Delays, missed connections and unsafe travel conditions don’t just cause inconvenience — they affect performance, health and morale.
For Meena and Yadav, the ordeal ended with a fine paid and a delayed journey resumed. But the questions raised by the incident remain unanswered.
“For young athletes watching this,” Kuldeep said, “the message is worrying. If this can happen to us, what hope do they have?”
As India dreams of Olympic podiums and Asian Games medals, the image of a coach pleading on a railway platform is a stark reminder: medals are not won only inside stadiums. They are built through long, difficult journeys — journeys that are often made harder by systems meant to support them.
Sometimes, the toughest hurdle isn’t on the track.
It’s simply getting to the starting line.